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Esther's Narrative In Bleak House, Jennifer Willa Tonn Sternhagen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the complexity of Dickens's involvement with his narrative and characters, specifically Esther Summerson in the novel Bleak House. The introduction examines his habit of interrupting the speech of his characters with direct authorial comments in order that he not give up his story entirely to a character, even in an extended first-person narration. It is noted that this is true even of characters who are autobiographical, like Pip or David Copperfield. Here my references are to the work of Susan R. Horton (The Reader in the Dickens World) and Mark Lambert (Dickens and the Suspended Quotation).

A …

Exiles From Spain's Civil War: Case Studies Of Two Literary Figures, Olga Colbert

Theses and Dissertations

The Spanish civil war and the political regime that resulted from it deprived Spain of the presence and immediate inspiration of a large group of remarkably creative individuals. Some of the best minds of a literary generation left their country to protest the political situation and to continue to be true to their inner voices. Besides numerous personal and professional adjustments, hese people were faced with a tremendous sense of uprooting hat inevitably accompanies the experience of exile.

Only a minority among those exiles settled in the nited States, due to isolationist policies and to stringent minigration legislation. Those who …

Conversational Repair Strategies Of Preschool Children During Naturalistic Interactions, Richard J. Stott

Theses and Dissertations

Within the area of pragmatics, the subject of children's repair strategies has been an issue of considerable research for many years. Most of this research has not addressed verbal and nonverbal repair strategy behaviors particularly among preschool children enrolled in an integrated preschool program. The purpose of the present study was to describe how preschool children enrolled in an integrated preschool program request clarification in naturalistic situations and how they use conversational repair strategies following a stacked sequence of requests for clarification by adults.

Naturalistic inquiry was used to establish an inventory of strategies used by handicapped and non-handicapped children …

Donald H. Rubinstein's Review Of Catherine A. Lutz's Unnatural Emotions: Everyday Sentiments On A Micronesian Atoll And Their Challenge To Western Theory, Donald H. Rubinstein

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Values In Personality Development, Joanne Peterson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

As an important element of human life, values play a distinctive role in structuring the developing personality. Considerations of this role are discussed from an objective, subjective, and situational perspective, recognized as three known value orientations incorporated into differing personality theories. Initial inquiries suggest that values are not as important as the degree to which an individual commits to a moral life and then employs this viewpoint in sorting through various alternatives to select those beliefs, attitudes and behaviors best reflecting this commitment.

Auditory Feedback And Fitts' Law, Tamara L. Atkinson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on Fitts' Law has concentrated on presenting tracking tasks using visual feedback. The present research investigated the effect of auditory and/or visual feedback with a tracking task. Thirty subjects (15 male, 15 female) performed the tracking task using a mouse control to track a target on a computer monitor. The three feedback conditions included auditory, visual, and auditory/visual. For each condition, the Index of Difficulty was varied and the movement time was measured. It was predicted that the auditory feedback would produce movement times that would conform to Fitts' Law. The results indicted that the auditory condition did …

Moratorium On Maltzman: An Appeal To Reason, Mark B. Sobell, Linda C. Sobell

Faculty Articles

Maltzman's comment on Cook (1985), which appears elsewhere in this issue, is an unveiled attempt to resurrect the same allegations about our research that he made 7 years ago. None of the allegations are new! Over the past 7 years, those allegations have been the topic of 5 separate inquiries, in each of which we were vindicated. In this response, we review the multiple inquiries and we show how Maltzman continues to (1) cite our work out of context, (2) make false assumptions about the inquiries and our procedures and (3) disregard evidence contradicting his assertions. He relies on data …

The Effect Of Spatial Or Verbal Strategy Practice On Hand Involvement, Michela Anita Larocca

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A review of the research on spatial problem solving indicates that spatial problems can be solved using verbal or spatial strategies. Research on block designs further indicate that increased solving speed is correlated with increased left-handed use in right-handers. However, the effect of strategy teaching on hand involvement has not been explored. The present study selected 38 right-hand dominant college students low in spatial ability (Total Standard Score ≤ 95) using the matrices Analogies Test (Naglieri, 1985). Subjects were randomly assigned to a spatial, verbal, or no (control) strategy condition. After completing the pretest consisting of seven block designs based …

Training Program Evaluation For A Prototype Command, Control & Communication System: Soldier Requirements, Performance & Feedback, Natalie Dancho

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An Army training program was evaluated in order to present recommendations for program refinement. The training program, developed as part of two larger Army combat development (CD) studies (DuBois & Smith, 1989a, 1989b), represents an attempt to define program design requirements for training tank commanders to use the Intervehicular Information System (IVIS). IVIS is a computer-based command, control, and communications system proposed for future M1A1 tank upgrades. Twenty-four Army tank commanders (TCs) participated in the research effort. TCs were of various rank and age. Training and testing were conducted over a 4 day period. Training lasted 1-1/2 days followed by …

Facial And Pictorial Recognition As A Function Of Massed Versus Distributed Presentation And Imaging Instructions, John Allyn Cayard

Master's Theses

Beneficial effects of distributed practice and rehearsal on recognition has been demonstrated in numerous memory studies for verbal stimuli and manual skills. However, no research has been reported using non-verbal, pictorial stimuli. In addition, few studies have examined the effects of pictorial rehearsal. The present research examines the effects of massed versus distributed practice and post-exposure imaging on pictorial memory. The first and third experiments used faces while the second used plant stimuli. In general, the results showed beneficial effects for post-presentation imaging. Presentation mode produced complex effects, but generally supported the superiority of distributed presentation. The results of Experiment …

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator : Consistency As A Result Of Genuine And Discrepant Personality Type Feedback, Stephanie Ann Falk

Master's Theses

Because of the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Myers & McCaulley, 1988), psychological practitioners, consultants and researchers need to address implications of personality type feedbeck for clients, employees, and research subjects. This study investigated consistency of the MBTI as a result of genuine and discrepant personality type feedback. True and false feedback was expected to influence subjects in the directton of feedback given. Subjects were selected based on their Sensing-Intuitive (S-N) preference scores. Each of the forty subjects was given either true personality type feedback (TFG) or false personality type feedback (FFG), and then retested. Results showed that …

The Writing Processes Of Theodore Taylor And Jane Yolen, Jean Myers Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a description of the writing processes of two professional writers for children and young adults, Theodore Taylor and Jane Yolen. Theories concerning the writing process and implications for classroom use, as expressed by Cowley, Smith, Murray, Flower and Hayes, Graves, and Calkins, are the basis for an examination of the working papers for Taylor's The Cay and Rocket Island and Yolen's The Bird of Time and The Sultan's Perfect Tree which have been donated to the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota.

The working papers include notes, drafts, revisions, galley and foundry proofs, and correspondence, although …

Compliance With Universal Precautions By Health Care Workers In A Rural Community Emergency Room, Jane E. Devries

Masters Theses

Performance feedback has been used in various organizations to correct problems in the areas of safety, customer service, absenteeism, and tardiness. The present research examined the effects of performance feedback to increase compliance with universal precautions in an emergency room department. Four subjects (Registered Nurses) were observed for glove wearing in any of six different situations common to the emergency room. These included cleaning instruments, cleaning a laceration, giving an injection, phlebotomy, inserting an intravenous catheter, and obtaining and/or transporting specimens other than blood. A multiple baseline experimental design was employed in this study. Results indicated that performance feedback increased …

Temporal Discrimination Training Of Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury Using Computer-Based Operant Procedures, Robert Edward Obrecht

Masters Theses

Computer-based interresponse time (IRT) and matching-to-sample (MTS) procedures were employed in two experiments to assess and effect changes in temporal discriminations made by adults with a history of traumatic brain injury. The results of Experiment One support the interpretation that maintaining correct IRT > t performance was a function of stimulus conditions that included signalled IRTs, values of t less than 3-seconds, a contract agreement to maintain performance, and other contingencies not explicitly part of the design. The results of Experiment Two, that minimal response latencies on MTS tasks are mediated equally well by an experimenter's verbal prompting as well as …

Use Of Visual Phonics In The Remediation Of Children's Phonological Disorders, Diane E. Dacquay

Theses and Dissertations

Investigations within the field of child phonology- have been concerned with the acquisition of a phonemic repertoire as well as the developmental rules for combining phonemes sequentially. Children acquire the adult phonological system by simplifing their productions through the application of phonological processes. Speech-language pathologists target phonological processes for remediation when they are atypical of children's developmental stage or when the processes are unusual in form.

A recently developed hand symbol system called Visual Phonics (1985) may enhance the remediation of phonological processes. Support for this proposition comes from studies which have incorporated, with some success, the use of manual …

The Effects Of Feedback Referent And Content Upon Self-Determination, Rated Task Interest, And Intrinsic Motivation, Kerry L. Sheehan

Student Work

This study was an attempt to determine if verbal feedback could be used to convey information about feedback referent and feedback content to individuals in an experimental setting, and if so, if that information would influence their perceptions of perceived task competence, self-determination, task-interest, and intrinsic motivation. Eighty subjects were used from psychology classes. The majority were college freshmen or sophomores. Results showed that subjects did attend to the feedback referent, but that the referent had no subsequent influence on any of the dependent variables. Additionally, the feedback content manipulation did not produce the predicted effects upon the dependent variables. …

The Sex Stereotype Of A Job As A Moderator Of Sex Bias In Performance Evaluations, Sandra B. Crooks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In accordance with the stereotype-fit model of discrimination (Dipboye, 1985), the results of past research indicate that the extent to which jobs are sex stereotyped dictates whether or not a main effect for rate sex is present in performance evaluations. The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationship between the sex stereotype of the job and the presence of sex bias in evaluation. Two hundred and five undergraduate psychology students viewed one of eight videotapes of a confederate job applicant performing a work sample task and evaluated the observed performance. A 2 x 2 x 2 between …

The Effects Of Adding Verbalizations On The Draw-A-Person, Phyllis Helen Millspaugh

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sixty-two male and femal 9-, 10- and 11-year olds were administered the Naglieri Draw-A-Person (DAP) and the Vocabulary and Block Design subtests fro mthe Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). The study was conducted to determine the effects of verbalizations during the DAP on correlations with an estimated Full Scale IQ Score obtained from the two WISC-R subtests. Results of the study indicate that although there was an increase in the correlations between the Verbal DAP group and the estimated Full Scale IQ Score, compared to the standard DAP and the Full Scale IQ, it was not significant. The difference …

Construct Validity And Development Of Local Norms In The Assessment Of Adhd., Rose Ternes Hunter

Student Work

A pilot study was performed to determine the validity of on-task behavior and locally developed attention tasks# to assist in the identification of children with ADHD. Subjects were third grade students in the Hampton City Public Schools. Means and standard deviations were computed for time-on-task as well as number correct and number committed for each of five separate attention tasks. A correlation analysis was performed to compare results of attention tasks with each other as well as with the Abbreviated Conners Teacher's Scale (ACTS), a Hyperactivity Index, and IQ. Results were in the expected direction, although correlations with ACTS were …

The Use Of Rhythm In The Acquisition Of Motor Skills, Ann C. Fulop

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research assessed whether rhythm aids in the acquisition of motor skills by providing cues for the timing of those skills. The nature of representations of rhythms in memory was also explored. Certain rhythms have stable memory representations, while others have unstable representations. It was hypothesized that rhythms that had stable memory representations would be more beneficial in learning a skill than unstable rhythms. Three groups learned three different rhythms by practicing a tracking task. Three different tracks displayed the three rhythms. Following training, subjects attempted to reproduce the rhythms from memory. The results suggest that rhythms do help in …

The Effects Of Life Stress And Risk-Taking Style On Risk Perception And Driver Performance, Christine B. Philput

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effects of risk-taking style, stress level, and highway environment on driver performance. In Phase I, 50 subjects were assessed for risk-taking style and stress level. In Phase II, the same subjects were presented with slides of traffic situations that varied in terms of risk of accident. This was a paired comparison task in which they rank-ordered ten highway sites, producing a measure of subjective risk. No significant relationships were identified between these subjective risk judgments and objective data regarding those sites (accidents and fatalities), though this is most likely due to problems with the slide presentation. …

Self-Concept And Its Relationship To Achievement In Minority Preschool Children, Larry Lennard Lindsey

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between self-concept, self-esteem, demographic information, and racial preference to achievement in minority preschool children. The subjects were 56 minority preschool students from a Head Start program in Newport News, Virginia. The subjects were assessed using four different instruments. The instruments were the Joseph Preschool & Primary Self- Concept Screening Test (JPPSST), the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem Test (BASE), the Preschool Racial Attitudes Measure (PRAM), and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. The JPPSST, PRAM, and Woodcock-Johnson were administered to the subjects by an examiner. The Woodcock-Johnson assessed achievement in two separate areas: …

Hemispheric Effects Of Response Hand And Concurrent Auditory And Visual Information Processing On Task Performance, Paula J. Guerette

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Previous research (cf. Wickens, Mountford & Schreiner, 1981; Wickens & Sandry, 1982) has suggested that performance is facilitated by maintaining "integrity" between the hemisphere of information input, processing, and motor response. This task-hemispheric integrity has been found to exist during concurrent performance of verbal and spatial tasks, both of which are presented in a visual modality. The present study sought to examine whether task-hemispheric integrity exists during concurrent performance of a verbal and a spatial task when the verbal task is presented in an auditory modality and the spatial task(s) are presented in a visual modality. Fifty-six individuals (28M, 28F) …

The Predictive Validity Of The Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory To Assess Borderline Conditions In Adolescents, Juan Mario Herakovic

Dissertations

This study examined the predictive validity of the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI) (Millon, Green & Meagher, 1982) to evaluate Borderline Personality Disorder in adolescents. The hypothesis is that the MAPI tends to overdiagnose Borderline Personality Disorders. The origin of the term is placed first within the framework of psychoanalysis and its evolution through other theoretical constructs is then discussed. The concept of Borderline is surrounded by imprecise terminology which contributes to the confusion of a clinical diagnosis. While there is a movement in mental health to provide a more precise and behaviorally oriented description of this disorder, current explanations …

The Effectiveness Of Three Study Aids As Measured By Immediate Examinations And Delayed Examinations, Yousef Abdulwahab Abuhmaidan

Dissertations

Two experiments were performed to examine the effectiveness of three study aids: (1) information maps, (2) behavioral objectives, and (3) the students' own strategies in reorganizing written material. A training workshop was given prior to the first experiment to teach the students appropriate skills to use to read research articles (e.g., generating and answering questions, filling out and generating information maps). Eighteen undergraduate students participated in the study. In the first experiment, students were randomly assigned to three groups. The researcher provided students with a research article every week for three weeks, together with either an information map, a set …

Design Of A Program Of Instruction To Teach State Notation, Esther Hannah Shafer

Dissertations

The process of programming instruction involves a series of steps which include determining the need for programming instruction on a particular topic, choosing the appropriate programming method, and a series of approximations toward the final program through testing and revision. State notation (Michael, 1986), a notation system which is used to visually represent procedures such as those used in an operant laboratory setting, was deemed an appropriate topic for programmed instruction since the complex decisions that learners must make when diagramming are difficult to teach using conventional methods. Mathetics (Gilbert, 1962) was chosen as an appropriate programming method for state …

A Study Of Training, Feedback, & Goal Setting For Improving Quality In An Organizational Setting, C. Richard Moore Iii

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study investigated the effects of training, knowledge of results (KR), and goal setting on improving product quality in a field setting. Both practical and theoretical issues were addressed through the experimental design. A practical concern was the improvement of product quality in an organization. The theoretical issue was the increased understanding and utility of goal setting and knowledge of results for motivating workers' quality behavior.

Two existing departments (n=60 employees) of an aluminum window manufacturing plant were studied with the use of a multiple-baseline, within-subjects design across four experimental phases: a) baseline, b) training only, c) visual presentation …

A Method For Knowledge Engineering In Clinical Decision Making, Sheila S. Giere

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to validate the problem behavior evaluation section of an expert system computer program, Class.BD. Class.BD was developed to assist special education personnel in determining whether students qualify for special education services as behaviorally disordered/severely emotionally disturbed students.

The subjects were six Utah who regularly individuals from the state of 1) work with behaviorally disordered/severely emotionally disturbed students and 2) participate in multidisciplinary assessment teams. Three of the subjects were special educators, and three were school psychologists.

Specifically, this study investigated the impact of five behavioral factors on the subjects' ratings of the seriousness of …

A Method For Knowledge Engineering In Clinical Decision Making, Sheila S. Giere

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to validate the problem behavior evaluation section of an expert system computer program, Class.BD. Class.BD was developed to assist special education personnel in determining whether students qualify for special education services as behaviorally disordered/severely emotionally disturbed students.

The subjects were six Utah who regularly individuals from 1) work with the state of behaviorally disordered/severely emotionally disturbed students and 2) participate in multidisciplinary assessment teams. Three of the subjects were special educators, and three were school psychologists.

Specifically, this study investigated the impact of five behavioral factors on the subjects' ratings of the seriousness of …

Training Potential Witnesses To Produce Higher Quality Face Composites, David Bradley Marwitz

Master's Theses

This study attempted to determine if training and familiarization with a composite construction system would improve the quality of subjects' composite production. Subjects were trained in the use of the Mac-a-Mug Pro system over two sessions. During the course of the two meetings, subjects constructed eleven composites (six from memory and five with the face in-view) and were allowed time to practice with the system. Results suggests that the quality of subjects' composites improved with practice. However, training with the composite system prior to exposure to the first face did not lead to higher quality composites. These results have implications …